


Domestic Avengers

by AgentStannerShipper



Series: Domestic Avengers [1]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: F/F, F/M, Lots of Avengers fluff, M/M, Multi, No specific couples really, One big family type thing, ignore anything after Avengers, no IM3, one shots
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-09-21
Updated: 2015-05-09
Packaged: 2017-12-27 00:19:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 11
Words: 17,618
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/972052
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AgentStannerShipper/pseuds/AgentStannerShipper
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Bruce isn't as shy as everyone thought, Natasha kicks ass at poker, Tony only drinks moderately less, Steve isn't technologically impaired, Clint can build a mean pillow fort, Thor regularly conjures up thunderstorms, Pepper is a mother hen, JARVIS records just about everything, and everyone else visits on the holidays (or whenever else they feel like it).</p>
<p>This is what it sounds like: the Avengers living together and what they do when not on missions. It's just a series of one shots. Fair warning, most of these are going to primarily feature Bruce. You have been warned.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Welcome

**Author's Note:**

> So, basically the couples start with Clintasha and Pepperony and develop from there until they all are pretty much together. except for Thor, because I only really like to put him with Jane, and he might not be in here a lot. So yeah. Also, the one shots will be in chronological order, unless I specifically mention that one is out of order.

"Welcome to Avengers Mansion!" Tony said, arms spread in front of him like he was presenting a prize, which in a way he was. After all, when SHIELD had finally let the Avengers go, none of them had expected more than a pat on the back for saving the world. They definitely hadn't expected Tony opening a mansion in New York just for them.

"This is something," Steve murmured, looking impressed.

"It was my mother's," Tony told them, not just speaking in answer to Steve's question. He grinned at Bruce, "and wait 'til you see the labs. If you thought Stark Tower was Candy land..." He let the thought trail off enticingly. Well, enticingly to a scientist like Bruce, anyway.

"What's the catch?" Natasha asked. She didn't try to be suspicious, it just came naturally. And free housing? That usually was too good to be true. "No catch," Tony grinned. Then he looked thoughtful, "well, I suppose living with six other people could be considered a catch." Bruce must have been counting, because he frowned slightly, "six _other_ people? Loki's not staying, is he?" The scientist looked nervous at the thought.

"Nope, no Loki," Tony assured him, "just the six of us and Pepper. Well, JARVIS too, but I'm not counting him because of the lack of a body. So. You coming in or what?"

Clint and Natasha glanced at each other, having a conversation with only their eyes. Steve seemed to be mulling it over, and Thor shrugged. Bruce was the only one who demonstrated any sign of excitement at this idea. "Definitely," he said in response to Tony's question. Bruce was smiling, which sort of threw the others off. Bruce didn't really smile all that much. At least, not that they knew of.

"Great!" Tony clapped him on the back, "you can be my science bro. Now Pepper won't have to complain that there isn't anyone else to put up with me talking about science."

Bruce raised an eyebrow, "what are the implications of 'science bro'?"

Tony waved that off, "I'll get to that later. But the rest of you haven't answered the question."

Steve spoke, "I'll give it a shot. I don't have anywhere better to go anyway."

Clint and Natasha nodded, not saying anything. Tony figured it was the best reaction he was going to get out of them. "What about you, Point Break?" he asked Thor.

The demigod frowned, "I returned to visit the Lady Jane. I do suppose i could say here longer if I had housing."

"So it's settled," Tony threw an arm around Bruce's shoulder, delighted when the physicist didn't shrug it off, "now who's ready for the tour?"

And that was that.


	2. Unexpected Cuddling

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bruce has no idea how he was roped into this, but he's not complaining.

They had expected him to be aloof. What else would you expect from someone who was a super genius who had severally tamped down emotions? And he had been somewhat withdrawn, everyone noted later, for about as long as it took for Tony Stark to join their little group around the table on the hellicarrier. Then he had tensed up and, after a moment, completely relaxed. It was surprising, really, how easily he had fallen in with them, almost as much as he had surprised them all by staying at Tony’s mansion with them instead of going back to some third-world country in need of medical assistance. Bruce had been a little surprised himself. But Tony had invited him to stay, and the fact that someone wanted to keep him around, the fact that Tony had come up with an entirely new term just to describe their…relationship (science bros did have a sort of ring to it, Bruce had to admit, and it was a very tempting two words) was more than enough incentive for him to stay, at least for the time being.

But this, this he hadn’t expected. Pepper had drawn him out of the lab late in the evening with enticements of sci-fi movies, and the moment that he was settled into the couch in the screening room of the mansion, and Back to the Future was on the screen, Pepper had settled herself next to him, her head resting on his shoulder.

Bruce was pretty sure he had stopped breathing. It felt like every muscle in in his body had frozen the moment Pepper’s head had hit his shoulder, strawberry-blond locks of hair getting a little mussed against his button down. And it wasn’t even as if that was the only point of contact. Pepper was cuddled up against him as if he was a body pillow…or Tony.

Her green eyes were trained on the movie, and Bruce couldn’t tell if her being this close to him was a conscious decision or not. “Pepper,” he said softly, but she cut him off, drowsily putting a finger over his lips.

“I’m watching the movie,” she murmured, shifting slightly to get more into a more comfortable position before nestling back down against his side, so close he could feel her eyelashes fluttering through his shirt.

“Room for me?” Tony asked softly, making Bruce jump. He hadn’t heard the billionaire enter the screening room. It figures the one time Tony was stealthy, Bruce ended up being caught cuddling with his friend’s girlfriend.

He was too tongue-tied to answer, but Pepper was the one who spoke, “if you can be quiet, then you can stay.”

Without a word, Tony sank onto the couch on Bruce’s other side, taking up a lot more room than Pepper did by laying across the couch, legs dangling over the edge of the sofa’s arm, and his head on Bruce’s lap. One of Pepper’s hands reached over, absentmindedly fondling Tony’s messy hair. Bruce felt rigid as a board, like the slightest twitch would result in his loss of control.

“Easy, big guy,” Tony soothed softly, mouth half pressed against his pant leg, “it’s just us.”

Bruce relaxed minutely. He really didn’t interact with these people outside of the lab (Pepper even less, because he rarely saw her unless she was shepherding Tony to something). Maybe they did this with everyone. Maybe Bruce wasn’t the only one they had coerced into cuddling. The question, of course, was why?

About halfway through the movie, he shifted slightly and felt one of Peppers hands close over his wrist, like she was trying to hold him there. Bruce hadn’t actually been planning on going anywhere, but he couldn’t blame her for thinking that he might. In the week that he’d been there, everyone had gotten that impression at least once.

When the movie was over, Tony stood up and stretched, “I love that movie. The science is faulty, but it’s a great movie. What’s next?”

Pepper glanced at Bruce, “what do you want to watch?”

“Actually, I should probably go back to the lab,” he mumbled. Socialization was one thing, but this was an entirely different situation than he was used to, and Bruce wasn’t sure he wanted to find out exactly what it was.

Pepper pouted slightly, “You don’t spend enough time with other people. You should watch another movie with us.”

“A movie?” Natasha had slipped into the room even more silently than Tony, Clint following behind her like an equally stealthy shadow. She paused a few feet away from the couch, “what are you watching?”

“We were going to let Bruce pick, but he’s being difficult,” Pepper told her.

Natasha practically glided onto the couch, depositing herself gingerly next to Bruce, but almost a foot away from him. Clint flopped down next to her, looking more relaxed than he usually did.

“You took my seat,” Tony frowned at the two of them, a slight pout on his lips.

“Get a new one,” Natasha shot back. Then, to Pepper, she said, “We should watch The Hunger Games.” Bruce wondered how much of that opinion came from Clint.

“Any objections?” Pepper asked. Bruce sighed, accepting the fact that he wasn’t going anywhere.

Grumbling slightly, Tony sat on Pepper’s other side, draped over the arm of the couch, one arm around Pepper’s shoulders. The movie started, the lights dimming. Bruce kept his eyes fixed on the screen, determined to block out the four other people to the best of his ability.

He jumped slightly when Natasha’s rigid posture slipped just enough for her shoulder to brush against his. Pepper’s head had returned to his other shoulder, one hand resting on his knee, almost possessively. Tony wasn’t even looking at the movie.

When he glanced at the archer, Bruce noted the way Clint’s lips pursed every time Katniss shot an arrow.

Finally the archer burst out, “she’s doing it wrong!”

Natasha shifted slightly to give him a look, her back pressing up against Bruce’s arm as she did so. He managed not to tense up, but only just.

But by the time the movie was half over, he felt surprisingly comfortable. Natasha had settled much closer to him, her arm pressed along his from the elbow down. On his other side, Pepper had shifted her grip from his knee to his hand, their fingers twining together. It was almost surreal, even more so when the hand that had been around Pepper’s shoulder drifted to gently rub up and down against his side. Bruce took a moment to be extremely grateful that he wasn’t ticklish.

When the movie ended, he realized that Pepper was asleep, and that Clint was dozing, snoring ever so slightly against Natasha’s hair. It was strangely domestic for a bunch of spies and superheroes (plus one more or less ordinary human), but it was comforting, and Bruce was only mildly surprised to find that he didn’t really feel like moving.

He closed his eyes, relaxing fully against the back of the couch, which Natasha took as an invitation to curl up under his arm. When she moved, Clint shifted with her, head now resting half on her lap, half on Bruce’s.

“That’s adorable,” a sleepy sounding Tony mumbled, before he slumped across Pepper, face buried in her neck, probably dead asleep. Bruce considered extracting himself (it had been a couple of days since he’d slept in his bed) but couldn’t be bothered.

“Hey JARVIS?” he asked in a very soft voice, “Take a picture, would you?”

“Of course, sir,” JARVIS answered, and although Bruce might have imagined it in his half-asleep state, he thought the AI’s voice sounded fond. It didn’t take him much longer than that to fall asleep, surrounded by people who trusted him, who he trusted.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Is this okay? Read and review, please.


	3. Kitten Pile

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Pepper searches for two of the Avengers when they leave the house, and finds a lot of adorableness.

“Steve?” Pepper called, frowning when there was no reply from the super soldier, “Steve, where are you?”

She pushed open the door to his room, realizing he wasn’t there. Steve never was up this early, unless he was at the gym, and Pepper had already checked there. “JARVIS?” she asked, “Where’s Steve?”

“I believe Captain Rogers has already left the mansion this morning,” came the slightly British sounding reply.

“Did he?” Pepper asked, “Did he say where he was going?”

“He did not, although I do believe it has something to do with the volunteer work he recently signed up for.”

Well that was news. Pepper hadn’t been aware of Steve signing up for any type of volunteer work. She exited the super soldier’s room and headed for the kitchen.

At this time of day (still early morning) only a few people would be up, and only one of them would be in the kitchen. So Pepper was increasingly surprised when Bruce was also absent from his usual place in the house. It had only been about a week and a half, and Pepper had everyone’s patterns down. What was going on?

“JARVIS, where’s Bruce?” Pepper asked, getting increasingly frustrated.

“He went with Captain Rogers, Miss Potts. Should I call them?”

“No, don’t bother,” Pepper muttered, “the volunteer work, do you know what it is?”

“I do, Miss Potts.” Finally they were getting somewhere. “Captain Rogers and Dr. Banner have volunteered at one of the local humane societies.”

Pepper bit back a giggle, “animals? I’d have thought war veterans were more Steve’s speed, maybe a hospital for Bruce. Are you sure?”

“Very sure, Miss Potts.”

“Am I allowed to go see them?”

“There’s nothing in my programing that says otherwise,” JARVIS responded.

With a little smile, Pepper was out the door and headed for the garage. Tony had more cars than the seven of them could need, so he usually just had all the keys hanging up on hooks and let them take which ever car they wanted. Steve’s bike was gone, and the extra helmet was too, so she assumed that they had ridden together.

Pepper chose one of the cars (one of the less conspicuous ones) and was on her way. There weren’t all that many animal shelters around Avengers’ Mansion, so Pepper figured finding the two wouldn’t be that difficult.

Apparently, she decided five shelters latter, she was wrong. She pulled out her phone, dialing Steve’s number. After a moment, he answered, “hello?”

“Hi Steve, it’s Pepper.”

“Good morning, ma’am.”

Pepper bit back a laugh, “it’s just Pepper, Steve. Where are you?”

“Out. With Bruce. He says hi.”

“I know you’re with Bruce, and I know you’re ‘out’. I want to know where.” Pepper hoped she didn’t sound too pushy.

“Oh.” Steve gave her the address, and she hung up, quickly heading towards her destination.

When she got there, she recognized Steve’s motorcycle in the parking lot. After parking her car, she headed inside.

“Can I help you?” the woman at the front desk asked pleasantly.

“I’m looking for two of the volunteers,” Pepper told her.

“We’re not allowed to give out names,” the receptionist said, not unkindly.

“Actually, I live with them,” Pepper didn’t really want to stand here arguing, if it could be called that, “we’re, um, involved.”

The woman gave her a strange look, but said firmly, “I can’t give you names. I’m sorry.”

“What if I gave you their names?” Pepper asked, “Steve Rogers and Bruce Banner. Are they listed?”

“Pepper!” that was Bruce, walking out of one of the backrooms, smiling shyly, “Steve said you were coming, and it occurred to me that you might have some trouble getting past the front desk.” He turned to the woman, “it’s fine, Tori. She’s with us.”

Tori pursed her lips, but gave Pepper a nod, “go ahead.”

Pepper stepped around the desk, following Bruce back the way he’d come, “I didn’t know you two volunteered here.”

Bruce shrugged, “it’s like free therapy for me, and Steve likes animals. He likes to draw them when they aren’t climbing all over him.”

Pepper had to laugh at the image that provided. They reached one of the rooms. “We’re with the cats today,” Bruce told her, “a lot of them just lay around and sleep, but the younger ones love to play.”

The entered the room, where Steve was kneeling on the floor, waving a ribbon enticingly in front of a little tabby kitten. The kitten waggled its rump and pounced on the ribbon. Steve seemed oblivious to the other cats trying to crawl up his legs. He glanced up, smiling at Pepper, “what brings you here?”

“Can’t I be worried about my housemates?” Pepper asked as Bruce joined Steve on the floor and was immediately surrounded by cats.

“Being worried is fine. You don’t need to track us down every time we disappear,” Steve said.

“Well, if you’d rather I didn’t come…” Pepper bit her lip, suddenly feeling kind of bad. She absently knelt, stroking the back of a black cat that slunk up next to her.

“Oh, no,” Bruce said instantly, brown eyes widening as he looked at Steve, “it’s fine. Right?”

At Bruce’s puppy-dog eyes, Steve nodded, “of course. I didn’t mean…I just don’t want you to feel like you have to be responsible for us.”

“I don’t have to be, I chose to be,” Pepper pointed out.

Steve gave a little smile, “as long as you think you can handle it.”

Pepper laughed, reaching out with both hands, fluffing both Steve and Bruce’s hair, “of course I can handle it. I’ve handled Tony Stark for years. Next to him, you all are a snap.”

Bruce chuckled, but that may have been because three of the kittens had jumped into his lap, and a slightly older one had climbed his shirt, balancing on his shoulder and batting at his hair. Pepper whipped out her phone and took a picture. Then she took one of Steve playing with the little tabby kitten.

Bruce reached over carefully, so as not to disturb his lapful of cats, and plucked the phone from her, grinning as he snapped a picture of her just as the black cat she had been petting jumped up against her side.

Pepper toppled over, and the black cat settled on her stomach, purring. “It likes you,” Steve noted.

“It’s a cat,” Pepper said, “It likes anyone who pets it.”

Bruce handed her back her phone, then gently stroked the black cat behind the ears, “it’s not an it, it’s a she.”

“Well, I think she’s adorable,” Pepper cooed. She sat up carefully, still petting the cat.  
“I don’t think Tony would mind a cat around,” Steve murmured, “and if these animals don’t get adopted, they might end up having to be put down.”

Pepper looked at him, horrified, “really?”

Steve shrugged, “in some places they do.”

“We can’t adopt every animal we want to save,” Bruce pointed out.

“Well, I don’t want every animal. I just want her,” Pepper decided.

And a few hours later, the newly dubbed “Loki” (Steve’s idea) was seated in a cat carrier in the car as Pepper followed Steve’s motorcycle home. Bruce had opted to hide home with her, saying that motorcycles made him a little nervous.

“What’s this?” Tony asked when they arrived at the mansion.

“This is Loki,” Pepper said, “and she’s ours now. You don’t have to take care of her if you don’t want to, but don’t expect to get to play with her if you don’t.”

Loki purred, rubbing against Tony’s leg, and his look softened a little, “she’s cute. Fine, she can stay.”

Steve laughed a little and finished unloading Loki’s things.

Everyone quickly became smitten with the cat. But a week later, when Steve and Bruce came home from volunteering, Steve gave Pepper a strange look.

“What?” she asked.

“Why did Tori tell us to ‘give our regards to the missus’?” he asked, and Bruce blushed and snickered slightly.

Pepper flushed, “I may have told her that we were involved.”

“So that’s why she’s been giving us strange looks,” Bruce mused. He cracked a smile, reaching down to pet Loki as the cat wound around his ankles.

“You’re not upset?” Pepper asked.

“You’ll know when I’m upset,” Bruce said.

“It’s fine,” Steve told her, “it doesn’t affect anything.”

“It doesn’t?” Pepper asked, heart sinking slightly. She really liked the super soldier and the scientist.

“Of course not,” Bruce said, “why put a label on things?” He walked off, probably headed to the lab.

Pepper stared after him, then glanced at Steve, who shrugged, “doesn’t matter what you call it. When you care for other people, does it really matter how?” He went the opposite direction as Bruce, headed for the gym.

Loki mewed, rubbing against her leg and begging to be petted. As Pepper bent down to stroke the cat, she smiled slightly. “They’re cute, aren’t they?” she murmured allowed.

Loki just meowed back.


	4. Green

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Avengers are getting honored for their assistance in the Battle of Manhattan, but Bruce is refusing to go, and for good reason.

“Guess what!” Tony all but bounced into the living room, startling everyone. Loki jumped off the couch at the noise, slinking out of the room.

“Please tell me you didn’t actually attempt to build the TARDIS,” Pepper said, sighing.

Everyone looked at her. “Is that actually on the list of projects you guys do?” Clint asked, glancing between Bruce and Tony. Bruce shrugged and went back to his book.

“No,” Tony said, “uh, no to Pepper, yes to Clint. Building a TARDIS is totally on the list of science projects, which, incidentally, has been posted on the bulletin board outside the lab. But that’s not what I wanted to share.”

“And what did you want to share?” Natasha asked. She, like Bruce, had been reading, her on one side of the couch and him on the other, stretched out so that her feet rested next to his hip, and vice versa. Unlike Bruce, she had put down her book when Tony had bounded into the room.

“Guess which world-saving team of superheroes is getting presented with medals at the end of the week?” Tony squealed like a fangirl.

“Fantastic Four?” Steve guessed.

Tony gave him a scathing look, “no, us!”

“We are to be awarded for doing our duty?” Thor asked, “Like a feast of honor after a warrior has been victorious in battle?”

“Sort of like that,” Tony said, “except no feast. There’s a big ceremony where some important person, often times the president, gives the honorable person, in this case us, a medal, which is like telling us great job, you’re patriotic and stuff. I got one once.”

“And we all know how that turned out,” Pepper rolled her eyes.

“When is it, did you say?” Clint asked.

“At the end of the week,” Tony said, “five days to be exact. This Sunday at five in the afternoon.”

“Fancy dress, I suppose,” Natasha said, sounding displeased.

“It is a military event,” Pepper pointed out, “important people will be there. There’s going to be a lot of cameras. You’ll want to look your best.”

Everyone jumped slightly at a sharp snap, the sound of a heavy book being closed with a great deal of force. “Cameras,” Bruce said flatly, “and fancy dress. I’m not going.”

“Bruce, you’re part of the team,” Tony whined, “You have to go!”

“I don’t have to do anything, Tony,” Bruce said, and although it was evident that he was trying to be stern, his voice wavered slightly, “there is no way I’m going to anything that- like that.” He stood up and left the room.

Pepper frowned after him, “did everyone else catch that?”

“Catch what?” Clint asked.

“Bruce’s argument,” Pepper looked like she was thinking. She sat forward, “we all know Bruce has no problem dressing up. He said as much to me the other day, when I mentioned that Tony throws a lot of parties that he’ll probably be coerced into going to. Those are all suit-and-tie occasions, and Bruce said he was fine with that.”

“Bruce in a suit,” Tony mused, “what’s your point?”

“Well, there’s that. And cameras can’t be it, because Bruce gets his picture taken all the time, with us and in public. He’s never gotten upset over that either.”

“Still missing the point, Pep,” Tony said.

“She’s saying that Bruce is lying about why he doesn’t want to go,” Natasha said lazily. Despite her tone, she had a similar look to Pepper’s.

“I personally don’t see anything wrong,” Steve said, “maybe Bruce is just scared he’ll Hulk out?”

“Bruce goes out in public on a regular basis,” Natasha added in, “If that’s the case, I highly doubt it.”

Tony looked crestfallen, “I really want him to be there. I had a surprise for him.”

“A surprise?” Clint raised an eyebrow, “and you didn’t get one for everyone?”

“This is special,” Tony insisted, “Bruce needs to come!”

Pepper shook her head, “I just wish I knew what was wrong.”

“I’ll talk to him,” Steve offered. He stood and left the room the same way Bruce had, albeit more casually. He didn’t bother asking JARVIS, he headed straight for the lab.

As he had figured, Bruce had retreated to the lab. Steve typed in the passcode (Tony had tried to keep the others from finding out with the protest that it was ‘Science Bros only”, but Bruce had been rational and told everyone the code, but asked for them to refer to the list of science projects to know if what they chose to do that particular day was dangerous or sensitive) and pushed the door open.

Bruce looked stressed, “what do you want, Steve?” He didn’t look up from his computer as he spoke.

“Why won’t you come with us?” Steve asked, short and to the point, “it’s an important occasion for the team. You need to be there. Everyone wants you to be there.”

“I already told you why,” Bruce mumbled.

“And everyone knows, to paraphrase, that’s complete and utter bullshit, Bruce,” Steve said firmly, “you shouldn’t hide things from us. We’re friends, right?”

Bruce finally looked up, pulling his glasses off and setting them on the table, before leaning heavily on it. He looked exhausted, a look Steve knew he only got whenever he had been awake for more than twenty-four hours or he was frightened beyond the point of being able to do anything about it.

“’Friends’ isn’t exactly the word I would use,” Bruce said softly, looking Steve in the eyes before his gaze drifted down and to the side, “but this isn’t something open for discussion, especially not with you.”

Steve frowned, “would you talk about it with someone else?”

Bruce closed his eyes, taking a deep breath, “Steve. I already said no.”

“If I was Tony, I’d tell you to stop being selfish and just come, no questions asked,” Steve told him.

“If you were Tony, there would be at least two swear words in that sentence,” Bruce said, eyes still closed.

“But,” Steve continued, “If you talk to me, or Pepper, or any of us, then maybe we can work something out.”

Bruce shuddered slightly, before opening his eyes again. Steve was relieved to see that there wasn’t any green in them. “Don’t…don’t get upset with me,” Bruce said softly, “okay?”

“Okay,” Steve looked at him, confused.

Bruce avoided his eyes, “Pepper said this was going to be a military event?”

“Yes.”

“That’s why. That’s why I don’t want to…why I can’t go.”

“I don’t follow,” Steve said.

Bruce shifted from one foot to the other, looking up again, “I, uh, don’t like soldiers.” When Steve raised his eyebrows, Bruce flushed, “present company excluded, of course.”

Steve seemed to be thinking, “okay. I guess that’s a valid reason for not wanting to go. I’ll tell the others.” He moved for the door, and then looked back over his shoulder, “but you know, we’d protect you. We’re more than just a team.”

He felt Bruce’s eyes on him as he left, probably widened almost comically.

Upon returning to the living room, Steve relayed what Bruce had told him.

“Makes sense,” Natasha shrugged, “I’d be terrified if I was in his position.”

Everyone stared at her, including Clint. “You’d be scared?” Tony asked, “Is that even legal for you to say?”

Natasha shot him a look, and then continued, “I still think he should go.”

“Of course he should,” Tony said, “we’re not about to let anyone take him. He’ll be perfectly safe.”

“He’s not going to come of his own free will,” Clint pointed out, “he’s already said as much. I don’t know about you, but I’m not a big fan of the idea of making Bruce do something he doesn’t want to do.”

“Point taken,” Steve said, “but there’s got to be a way.”

“Can I talk to him?” Natasha asked.

“It’s a free country,” Tony drawled, “I don’t think anyone will stop you.”

Natasha swung her legs over the side of the couch, “okay then.” She stood and smiled slightly, “don’t doubt my methods, Stark.”

Bruce was in the same place when she entered the lab. “What’s up doc?” she asked, a smirk playing at the corner of her mouth.

“I already told Steve no. I hate repeating myself,” was the immediate reply.

Natasha circled the lab bench, squeezing between Bruce and his work, and hopping up onto the table. “I’m not going to make you repeat yourself,” she said, “but I do think we should talk.”

Bruce took a step back, raising an eyebrow, “really.”

Natasha leaned forward slightly, swinging her legs, “I don’t blame you. I’d be just as scared if I was you. You have every reason not to go.”

“If you agree, then why are you here?” Bruce asked calmly.

“I didn’t say I agreed,” Natasha corrected, “I certainly don’t agree. I just want to clarify one point.”

“Which point?”

“Well,” Natasha tipped her head slightly, red hair falling in her face slightly, “see, I just don’t understand why you don’t think we’re going to protect you, or fight for you if the need arises.”

Bruce hesitated, and then looked down at his shoes, “no one’s ever fought to keep me around before. Why should now be any different?” But there was a note of uncertainty in his voice.

Natasha shrugged, “I don’t know. I figured by now you’d know that we want you here. I’m not scientist, but it seems like simple science. If this is a chemical equation, all the variables need to be here to keep it stable.”

Bruce opened his mouth, and then closed it again. Apparently, he didn’t have an argument for that. His shoulders slumped. “You’re not going to let me not go, are you?” he asked, his voice inflecting that he already knew the answer to that question.

Natasha smiled, “I’m glad we had this talk.” She hopped off the desk, kissed Bruce’s cheek (making him blush slightly), and left the room.

***

Despite the fact that everyone was positioned around Bruce in an almost protective manner, Bruce looked grim, like he was considering running. Everyone, including Clint, had been wrestled into suits, with the exception of Natasha, who was wearing a red dress. Pepper was at the back, there for support.

When Bruce caught sight of the presenter, however, he halted immediately, one foot turning as if to run. He probably would have, too, but Clint, who was right behind him, gripped his forearm, steering him back around.

“Cam down, big guy,” Tony murmured, “he’s not going to take you. I promise. I’m just giving you something that SHIELD gave me.”

Bruce has no idea what Tony’s talking about, but he did relax, if only a little.

“Avengers,” General Ross greeted them, apparently taking extra effort to not look at Bruce, something that both of them probably appreciated.

“General Ross,” Steve said, speaking for all of them.

Bruce managed not to fidget too much during the ceremony. He was last in the line, Steve next to him, something Bruce found reassuring, if only because he was fairly certain that if he felt the need to run, Steve would cover him.

And then General Ross was in front of him, and Bruce tensed, but kept still. “Thank you, Dr. Banner, for such a distinguished performance,” the General told him, but he had a grimace on his face, unable to be seen by the camera. His eyes held a glare, and Bruce could read exactly what the General was thinking through his eyes.

Steve leaned in slightly, and, his voice low, he frowned and said, “Are you alright, General Ross?” Ross looked like he was about to answer, but Steve cut him off, “it’s just, you’re looking a little green.”

Bruce wasn’t the only one whose mouth was hanging open. Anyone who was close enough to hear Steve, including the General himself, was staring at Steve in shock. Bruce, normally not one for flagrant displays of affection in public, flat out disregarded any previous hang-ups he might have had, and kissed Steve.

When he pulled away, blushing hard (better red than green, at least, don’t need to prove General Ross right), Steve was grinning, as was most of the team, and basically everyone else was either looking disgusted or shocked. The former was most likely due to homophobia and/or the fact that he was…well, the Hulk. The latter probably had something to do with the fact that Steve was Captain America.

“I think this calls for a celebration,” Tony smirked, throwing one arm over Clint’s shoulder and the other over Natasha’s, neither assassin appearing to mind too much. Steve reached for Bruce’s hand, who willingly clasped it in his own. Pepper was abruptly on stage next to Bruce, gripping his other hand.

And without caring about the cameras flashing, or the reporters yelling, they stepped away from the crowd, leaving an apparently frozen General Ross and several shocked military personnel behind.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> First off, sorry if I'm boring you with so much Bruce, but I write him best. I promise, the next chapter will be mostly the other characters. Second, this chapter was based partially off of a headcannon that wasn't mine. I don't actually know whose it was, so if it was yours, please don't get upset with me for using it, and tell me, and I'll give you credit.


	5. Steve's Blog

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Natasha finds a blog that Steve's been writing about them, and can't resist sharing it with the others while Steve's away.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Anything written in italics is something Steve or someone else posted on his blog.

 

“Guys, have you seen this?” Natasha asked, walking into the kitchen with one of Tony’s StarkPads in her hands.

The current occupants of the kitchen were Pepper, Clint, Tony, and Bruce. Thor and Steve were on a minor Avengers mission, so they were they only ones left in the house, save for JARVIS.

“Yes, I have in fact seen my own technology,” Tony said sarcastically, “I mean, I only invented it.”

Pepper elbowed him, “she probably means whatever’s on the tablet.”

Natasha set it down in the middle of the table, and Clint (and Tony) leaned forward to get a better look at it. “This is a blog,” Tony said, “why are you blogging?”

“I’m not,” Natasha responded, “I was on the internet, looking at some of the stuff people have been writing about us, and I found this.”

“People have been writing about us?” Clint asked, looking up at her in mild surprise.

She nodded, “we’re quite popular, actually.”

Pepper had been examining the blog while they were talking, and now interjected, “Natasha, who wrote this?”

“Can’t you tell?” Natasha asked, quirking an eyebrow, “the speech pattern is very distinct.”

Bruce pulled the tablet towards him, pulling his glasses out of his pocket to examine it. After a moment, he said, “Steve.”

“We have a winner,” Natasha said, smirking slightly, “yeah. Apparently Steve has his own little blog about us.”

“It’s got a lot of followers,” Pepper remarked, “Do they know you’re the real Avengers?”

Natasha shook her head, “I don’t think so. Steve talks about it like it’s real, but apparently he’s saying that it isn’t.”

“I want to read it,” Tony said immediately, “if he’s been talking about us, I want to know what he has to say.”

“That feels a little like invasion of privacy,” Pepper said, biting her lip.

“If he didn’t want us to read it, he wouldn’t have put it on the internet,” Clint pointed out, “I’m pretty sure he knows that we all can work a computer.”

“Still…” Pepper’s voice trails off, and she looks at Bruce, probably hoping for support. Bruce just shrugs, idly leaning back in his chair.

“I’ll give you the website,” Natasha says, smoothly scooping up the StarkPad with one hand. She uses the other to pull a sticky note off the refrigerator (Pepper always made sure there were a few packs in just about every room) and scribble the name of the website quickly. She dropped it on the table and sauntered out of the room.

Tony pulled out his phone, already typing in the website name. Pepper leaned over his shoulder, trying to see, but Tony leaned away from her, “I thought you didn’t want to see.”

“I said it was an invasion of privacy,” Pepper retorted, not that I didn’t want to see it.

Bruce glanced at the sticky note, pocketed his glasses, and left the room quietly. Clint opted to snatch it from the table and all but sprint off in the same direction.

Tony had the website up now, and was actually letting Pepper read over his shoulder.

 _It’s hard to describe Tony_ , Steve had written on one of his posts, _but that’s not entirely a bad thing. The more I spend time around him, the more I’m realizing that he’s not his father, and that that’s a wonderful thing. I know that if Tony had to pick one word to describe himself, he’d probably say something self-deprecating, like narcissistic or unstable. More and more, I’m thinking that if I had to pick a word to describe Tony, it’d be something more along the lines of selfless or welcoming. That’s the thing that Tony doesn’t realize about himself, and I think if he did he’d understand why we stay with him. Why I stay with him._

Pepper had crooned out an “aww! That’s so cute.”

Tony snorted, “look at the comments.”

One follower called blackice had written: _I don’t know what Tony Stark is like in your world, but in this one, he’s not exactly that cuddly._

Similarly, from dragonsareagirlsbestfriend: _you could totally write a fanfic about this, but unfortunately everyone would tell you that it was extremely ooc. Sorry._

“Steve knows you, they don’t,” Pepper said.

Tony rolled his eyes, but scrolled to another post. This one was about Pepper.

Steve wrote, _it may be that the only person in all the world suited for looking after the team is Miss Virginia “Pepper” Potts. She is a wonder among superheroes and ordinary people alike. But even more so that her ability to run a house full of heroes (and she truly is the power behind the throne) is her ability to make someone feel comfortable in an unusual environment. She can make anywhere feel like home almost instantly, and that is a power that few people possess._

Pepper smiled. She knew Steve had been a little uneasy at first, but had settled in very quickly. She hadn’t known that’s she’d had that much of a hand in it.

“At least your comments are positive,” Tony murmured.

Starspangledheart had commented: _that is so adorable! Does Tony ever get jealous of how close you and Pepper are? I think it was pretty obvious to everyone that Tony needed a lot of help to function, let alone a house full of Avengers! She must be truly amazing._

There were another dozen just like that, but only the negative one stood out to Pepper. According to monstersandmagic: _How can a woman without superpowers possibly take care of a house full of them? There’s even a Hulk, for crying out loud. She’d be totally wiped out after one day. Besides, it must make her feel so insignificant, living with so many heroes when all she’s done is worked for Iron Man._

Pepper blinked. She prided herself on her ability to take care of the Avengers. She was the one who had been taking care of Tony for years, after all, and that had just spread to her new housemates. She knew that Steve liked her to go for walks with him, and that Clint and Natasha were always up for a night on the town with her, and that Thor enjoyed helping her in the garden (that had been surprising, but it was enjoyable for both of them), and that Bruce liked to curl up with his head on her lap and hear her read to him, even if she didn’t understand half the words in the book. She didn’t just handle them, she cared for them.

Tony squeezed her shoulder, “they all really appreciate what you do for them. You know that.”

“Yeah,” Pepper muttered, “sure.”

***

In his own room (well, the one he shared with Natasha), Clint lay on his bed on his stomach, chin propped on his hand as he scrolled through Steve’s blog on his StarkPad. He had appeared in various postings, but it wasn’t until a ways down the page that he found one that was specifically about him.

_Clint hits the target dead center every time, and not just with his arrows. He sees everything so clearly, and he calls them like he sees them. That’s something I admire in him, the way he always tells the truth about everything. And if it upsets anyone, he’ll apologize and oftentimes pat them on the head. He cares about us all, but not in the way that the others do. He wants to make sure we aren’t attacked by the monsters within ourselves, the things that haunt us. If I didn’t have him, even I wouldn’t have been able to come to terms with some of the things I’ve done._

“Huh,” Clint muttered, “you weren’t kidding.” He’d been very blunt about Steve’s guilt once, and told him point blank that is wasn’t his fault. Steve had looked shocked.

The comments were less appealing. The first one (did that mean most recent or oldest? Clint wasn’t sure) was from someone called heartandsoul: _I just can’t see Clint with a hair fetish of any kind. He’s just not the type to pet people’s heads. I’d give you an A for effort, though._

Similarly, from joyfulsorrow: _I could be wrong, but the only monster is the Hulk, and that’s not exactly something you can cure by talking it out. And aren’t assassins supposed to be cold and deadly and lying all the time? How can you always tell the truth if you lie all the time?It just doesn’t make sense._

“I hate fangirls,” Clint muttered under his breath.

***

Back in the lab, Bruce opened a new tab on his computer and accessed the website. He reached down as it loaded, stroking Loki, who had come to rub up against his leg.

Bruce scrolled a little ways, glasses on, his eyes skimming the text, looking for points of interest (well, most of them were, but he’d read them more thoroughly later). One of the posts caught his eye:

_I honestly wasn’t sure what to expect when I met Bruce Banner. Everyone says he’s a monster, and I thought maybe I should see him that way too, considering the fact that he took Dr. Erskine’s work and made a mess of it. But when I actually met the man, I was somewhat surprised to find that that wasn’t what I saw. I saw a man first and then later a monster. But he couldn’t truly be called that, could he? When I listen to Bruce talk about his past (which he does so infrequently that it would almost be a crime not to listen) I realize that Bruce never became a monster. He became something strong enough to fight off all of the real monsters in his life. I just hope we can all keep him safe from his past._

Bruce bit his lip, part of him really wanting to cry. But it’s been far too long since he’s been allowed to cry, and he isn’t quite sure he could if he wanted to. Leave it to Steve to see him that way. He’d gotten called a monster many times, but this was the first time anyone had ever admitted to expecting a monster and not finding one.

Bruce was one hundred percent not surprised to find that there were negative comments. Stony4ever said: _touching, really, but this is the Hulk we’re talking about. You’re right, he screwed up the serum, used gamma radiation, and now he’s paying the price for his stupidity. He made himself into a monster, and that’s all there is to it._

Bruce had been bad talked so many times he didn’t even really register the comment. It was just one more in a long list of insults thrown his way.

What he did register was a comment from a follower calling his or herself greenwithgorgeousness: _I’m crying for Bruce, I really am. Regardless of what other people say, he went out of the country to try and stop hurting people, and that alone makes him a better person that a lot of other people out there. Good for you for being the better person and not being blinded by others’ hate._

That shook Bruce. No one he knew of (with the exception of the Avengers and Pepper) had ever said they felt sorry for him. It was strange, but it made Bruce smile.

***

Natasha had looked over the website many times, but she couldn’t help coming back to one of Steve’s comments.

It rang in her head all the time: _Natasha has said before that she doesn’t know who she really is. I don’t think SHIELD appreciates that enough. Here is someone who has such a horrible existence that they don’t know what is real and what isn’t, and they just swoop in and use her like others have used her before. While Natasha may not know who she is, I think I just might. I think the others might too, because I see the way they are with her. She’s a person, and she has likes and dislikes, wants and needs, just like everyone else. I think, deep down, Natasha knows exactly who she is, and that one day she’ll learn to accept that she isn’t the horror she thought she was._

Natasha would have loved to throw her arms around Steve and hug him for that. But she didn’t do that. She never did things like that. Shows of affection were always subtler. But the others watched and noticed. They knew.

***

The first thing Steve did when he got home from the mission (at about midnight, no less) was plop down on his bed and open up his computer. He pulled up his blog site, ready to make a new post, fingers dancing over the keyboard as he thought, to lightly to actually make any text appear on the screen.

Then he wrote; _the more time I spend here, the more I feel like I belong. Volunteering with Bruce, watching Tony and Pepper bicker before hugging, getting up early to spar with Natasha and Clint, laughing with Thor, it’s all so much a part of my life now it’s hard to imagine living without it. I sometimes wonder if I could go back and somehow not end up in the ice, lived out my life, if I would have. And I realize that no matter how much I miss Peggy, I wouldn’t give up what I have now for the world._

He pressed the send button, leaning back slightly and smiling. Then he frowned in confusing. Already, he had six comments on his post.

thedorksidehaspi: _thanks for letting me tag along with you at the shelter_

tosexyformysuit: _and here I was going to offer to let you go back with me once I built the TARDIS. So much for that._

blackwidowbites: _this changes nothing. I will still kick your butt when we spar_

freeasabird: _touching. Just for this, I won’t eat the waffles before you get to the kitchen in the morning_

spicypepper: _love you too. We’ll try to fight a little less. Maybe._

Steve just grinned.


	6. Not Overly Fond of What Follows

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bruce is scared of thunder. The Avengers find a way to remedy that.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I apologize for all the Bruce. Oh wait, I don't because I love him. Anyway, I write him the best, so sorry if this is too much of him. The other thing I apologize for is that I used Google Translate for the Russian parts. Correct me if I'm wrong.

Thor was the god of thunder. It was expected that at some point or another, thunderstorms were going to become a very common thing around Avengers mansion. But the first time it happens, late one night, the result wasn’t what most of them were expecting.

Natasha was the one who found him. She had trouble sleeping when there were unusual loud noises outside. She had gotten used to the sounds of the city, and rarely ever woke up after a car alarm went off anymore. Thunder and the city, though? She would need some more time to adjust.

She moved quietly through the house, something she was well used to doing, being careful not to wake anyone up. The Avengers did have odd sleeping schedules, but usually by this late they were asleep unless something else got in the way.

Most of the doors were closed, but out of the corner of her eye, she noticed one open. It didn’t take her more than a moment to place who the room belonged to. She slipped to the doorframe, eyes scanning the room.

She almost missed the figure curled up in the corner. She would have, despite her keen eyesight (years of training), but she noticed a little glint of light when there was a flash of lightning, and a little whimper when thunder followed it.

“You okay?” she asked softly, entering the room slowly.

“Not really,” Bruce responded from the corner. As she moved closer, she could see just how upset he looked. She sank down next to him.

“в чем дело?” (What’s the matter?) she asked softly in Russian. She knew Bruce understood her, and hoped that if he had to think a little more, he might focus less on what was frightening him.

“Я не люблю гром,” (I don’t like thunder) Bruce responded. He shuddered as another loud crash ripped across the sky, a flash of lightning temporarily illuminating his face. He looked almost…younger, Natasha noted, like a frightened child.

“Почему?” (Why?) Natasha asked.

Bruce winced slightly, but this time it wasn’t because of the thunder. “Это сложно,” (It’s complicated) he finally said.

Natasha held out her hand, “Пойдемте со мной.” (Come with me)

Bruce didn’t move for a moment. Then he grasped Natasha hand and stood up. She didn’t say anything else, just tugged him forward and out of his room, down the hall, until they were in the bedroom she shared with Clint.

Bruce looked up at her (Natasha couldn’t help but smile softly, because Bruce is practically shorter than her, and it made her feel kind of powerful), and she could see the question in his eyes.

“жить,” (Stay) she said softly. Clint didn’t even stir.

She moved to the bed and pushed back the covers, and Bruce moved towards her, carefully. The hesitancy was almost adorable.

She patted the bed, and Bruce lay down. She followed suit, pulling the blanket over them. In his sleep, Clint rolled over so he was cuddling Bruce, and Natasha curled around Bruce’s back. “засыпать,” (Sleep) Natasha murmured in his ear. He listened.

When Bruce woke up, the bed was empty, the sun was well into the sky, and the storm was over.

It might have very well been a fluke, and Bruce figured as much. Everything had been in the right place at the right time, and it probably wouldn’t happen again.

***

A little under a week later, they all were aware of the thunderstorm before it happened. Natasha had, very discreetly, passed on what she had learned to Steve, who had let Pepper know. After dinner, Steve had asked Bruce if he wouldn’t mind modeling for Steve. Bruce had agreed, and it turned out he was very adept at sitting still for long periods of time.

After working on the picture for a while, Steve could hear the rain starting. He kept working, one eye always on Bruce.

When the storm really hit was the first time in over an hour that Bruce moved. Steve didn’t say anything; he just put away his pencil and the pad of paper. He gestured for Bruce to get up, and Bruce did timidly.

Steve patted the bed next to him, “come on. It’s time for bed.”

Bruce stared at him for a moment, and then asked, “Did Natasha put you up to this?”

Steve shrugged, “she told me you were having problems sleeping through the storm last week. I figured you’d be more comfortable if you weren’t alone.”

Bruce sat down next to Steve, and the super soldier wrapped him up in a hug. “We care about you,” Steve said softly, “we all do. We want to make you happy.”

“I care about you too,” was the only thing Bruce could find to say.

Steve kissed his forehead, then stood up and pulled back the blankets. This time Bruce didn’t hesitate, and crawled into the bed. Steve was just as cuddly as Natasha and Clint had been, Bruce noted sleepily, not even noticing the storm raging outside.

This time when he woke up, he wasn’t alone. It was earlier than last time, though, so that may have been a factor. Bruce actually felt kind of squished, as Steve had pulled him against his chest.

He managed to extract himself, but the moment he did, Steve frowned in his sleep and gave a soft whimper, his hand reaching out.

Bruce had to lie back down. No one should be able to make that sad a face in their sleep. He drifted for a little while, until Steve woke up. It felt awkward for a moment, but then Steve gave a small smile, kissed Bruce’s cheek, and got up.

And again, Bruce figured that was the end of it. He was a little less certain this time, but still…

***

Pepper did not beat around the bush. When Pepper saw fit to get involved, you knew exactly what she was doing. And that was amazing, considering the fact that just about everyone in the mansion didn’t state their exact intent on most things. That was something you generally had to be careful with.

Not Pepper. The third thunderstorm came on abruptly, and she marched down to Bruce’s room with a purpose. He looked miserable, sitting dejectedly on the bed.

“Bruce,” she said firmly, making him look up, “you’re sleeping with me and Tony tonight.”

He had looked bewildered, but you did not argue with Pepper Potts, be you god or rage monster, because Pepper could do a lot more damage than anyone else in the mansion could. She was scary when pissed off, and that was coming from Bruce.

Bruce followed her to the bedroom she shared with Tony, and it felt routine. Tony, for once, didn’t make any wisecracks, and just pinned Bruce to the mattress with one arm, Pepper curled up against Bruce’s chest. And he didn’t really find it odd at all.

Waking up with Tony and Pepper was, again, different. Not only were they both still there, they were both awake with no immediate desire to get up.

“I appreciate you letting me-“ Bruce began.

Pepper cut him off, “we’re not letting you sleep all by yourself, Bruce. We all know you don’t like thunderstorms.”

“Besides,” Tony pointed out, “that’s probably the best sleep I’ve had in years. You’re like a movable electric blanket; ridiculously hot.” And because it was Tony, there was that little grin on his face as he said it.

Pepper shot him a look over Bruce, “Tony.”

“Pepper,” he shot back, mimicking her tone before cuddling back up to Bruce.

Pepper rolled her eyes, and Bruce felt sympathetic. He couldn’t help reaching for her hand and squeezing it gently. She smiled and squeezed back.

Bruce thought it was entirely possible that they might not have gotten up at all, had Loki not jumped onto Tony’s face and left him sputtering through an unexpected mouthful of cat. Pepper had laughed hysterically, and Bruce couldn’t help but chuckle.

***

After that, it became routine. If there was a thunderstorm during the day (usually not Thor’s fault), Bruce would lock himself in the soundproof lab and work with Tony until it was over.

If the thunderstorm was at night (and there were several in the first few weeks), one of the other inhabitants of the mansion would find him and take him to bed with them.

And then, as Bruce was going to turn in for the night, Pepper had called to him. “Where do you think you’re going?”

He had turned to look at her, confused, and she had held out her hand beseechingly. “I don’t like you being alone,” she murmured.

“Steve’s alone,” Bruce pointed out.

Pepper smiled, “it’s an open invitation. He’s welcome to come too.”

Bruce glanced at Steve, who hesitated, then nodded, “I’d like that.”

Pepper turned her puppy-dog eyes on Bruce, and he relented, “okay.”

The only thing Tony said that night was: “we’re going to need a bigger bed.”


	7. Win or Lose

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Natasha, it seems, can beat them at any game. The others are getting a little annoyed.

It was easy to assume they were evenly matched. After all, Steve was a cunning strategist who was able to call a bluff when he saw one, Tony was a genius who could do calculations in his head with ease, Bruce could read emotions (and often, the lack thereof) like nobody’s business, Thor was capable of staring everyone down until they surrendered, and Clint…well, Clint could cheat and had excellent eyesight to boot. Pepper, while she wasn’t super-powered, could hold her own.

So why on earth did Natasha kick everyone’s butt every time they sat down for a card game?

It wasn’t even like it was just most of the time, either. If the game had any amount of skill required, Natasha won. Board games varied, but card games (everything from go fish to poker) had all but become taboo in the mansion.

Before they had noticed, they had played poker a lot. It was an easy way to unwind after missions, and it was more social the just watching a movie (although they did that too). However, after losing to Natasha a few times to many, poker became much less popular.

After cycling through a lot of games, it became clear that Natasha wasn’t going to lose one any time soon.

“Again?” Pepper groaned, burying her face in the carpet, but resurfacing just as quickly, probably due to the large amount of cat hair now on the rug.

They were all sitting on the living room floor, sprawled in various positions, in a circle around a stack of Uno cards that Clint picked up, looking resigned, and began to shuffle.

Natasha gave a smug little smirk from where she was leaning against one of the two couches.

Pepper, who had been lying on her stomach, rolled over onto her back and tugged at Steve’s pant leg, “she keeps winning! How does she do that?”

Steve was sitting a few feet away from Pepper, legs crossed out in front of him, using one hand to keep himself propped up. He smiled at Pepper, “if I knew that, she wouldn’t keep winning.”

“But it’s so frustrating!” Pepper whined.

On Pepper’s other side, Bruce reached over and squeezed her shoulder, “if it makes you feel better, she’s kicking Tony’s butt, and he’s supposed to be a genius.”

“Hey!” Tony said indignantly, “what do you mean, supposed to be?” He didn’t make a move to untangle himself from Bruce, though (he had one leg thrown over Bruce’s, and was currently leaning against Bruce’s shoulder, clinging to his neck).

Bruce chuckled and leaned over to kiss Tony’s forehead, “it’s okay. We still love you.” Tony pouted anyway.

“Seriously, Tasha,” Clint complained, “how are you doing this?” He was the picture of casualness, taking up more space than pretty much everyone else, on the other side of Steve. He didn’t stop shuffling as he spoke.

Natasha just smiled serenely and didn’t answer.

“Tis most unfortunate,” Thor agreed (no one knew who had taught Thor to sit Indian style, but with his mass it was kind of cute). He was seated next to Tony and Bruce, with Natasha on his other side.

“I’m done with this,” Tony grumbled, pushing away the cards when Clint went to deal them to him.

“You could play chess with me,” Bruce offered, smiling, “and I could kick you iron butt at that.” Pepper snickered.

“If I didn’t know better, I’d say all of you were out to get me,” Tony complained.

“But you do know better,” Steve put in.

Tony finally untangled himself from Bruce. Standing up, he pointed at Natasha, “I’m not playing games with you anymore. It’s not fair.” He shuffled out of the room in a huff.

“It’s perfectly fair,” Natasha said calmly, even though Tony was gone, “I’m not cheating.”

“No one said you were,” Pepper assured her.

Natasha rested her head on Clint’s shoulder, and he stroked the redhead’s hair. “I vote the game be called on account of…poor sportsmanship,” Clint declared.

“Good idea,” Steve said, “it’s getting late anyway.” He stood, picking up Pepper bridal style as he did so. She shrieked and clung to him. Bruce chuckled lightly and stood up too.

“Goodnight,” Natasha smiled. Steve stepped over and kissed her hand, before leaving the room with Pepper still holding on to him.

Bruce nodded to Thor, smiled at Clint, and rested his hand affectionately on Natasha’s shoulder for a moment before he left as well.

“I shall retire as well,” Thor told Clint and Natasha, standing and nodding to both of them. He strode from the room.

“They’re right,” Clint muttered, still cradling Natasha against his side, “you do win games all the time. It gets kind of annoying to be beaten every time you try to play.”

“So you’re saying I should let them win?” Natasha asked.

“I’m saying we should play games you can’t automatically beat everyone in,” Clint corrected her, “I bet if we got a Wii-“

“Yes, because Tony would go for that,” Natasha scoffed, “why don’t you challenge him to try to make something better? I guarantee that he would make that top priority in the lab just to prove to you he could.”

“Very clever,” Clint praised, “you’re diabolical. It’s very cute.”

“Yes, well,” Natasha yawned, “this diabolical woman is ready for bed.”

“You used to be able to stay up all night long,” Clint teased, “what changed?”

“We moved in here,” Natasha answered, “and it upset my schedule. Don’t worry. I’m still capable of handling missions.”

“Okay,” Clint said, “bedtime, then. Would you like me to pick you up?”

Natasha snorted, standing up herself, and cocking an eyebrow down at Clint, “how about I pick you up, princess?” And she didn’t wait for an answer. She just reached down and scooped Clint into her arms like it was nothing (and she’d had to do it before, too, although he was usually unconscious and covered in blood during those times).

Clint glared at her, looking caught between annoyance and amusement, “just by participating in this, I’m losing claim to my manliness.”

“You’ll get over it,” Natasha said coolly, and she proceeded to carry him to bed.

***

A few days later, Pepper and Thor started a game of Go-Fish while everyone else was off doing other things. Once Bruce and Tony finished in the lab, they joined in. Then Steve, Clint and Natasha came, and they had to add in another few decks to compensate.

It was fun, trying to figure out the rules that would accompany using more than one deck of cards, and for a few games no one was worried about who won. Tony had been thrilled, because he won the first round, and Thor had won the second. But when they went on to the third round, Natasha once again proceeded to beat everyone else.

“It has to be some kind of magic,” Pepper said after a few more games, “there is no other way to explain it.”

Tony coughed slightly, “science.”

“I don’t know,” Steve said, “do tactical skills count as science?” He looked idly at Bruce and Tony, waiting for an answer.

Bruce shrugged, “no idea. Not my field.”

“Well, it’s not magic,” Tony said, “so unless Natasha’s worked out some kind of deal with an Asguardian (here he looked not-so subtly at Thor) I doubt that’s the case.”

“Nay, it is not magic,” Thor confirmed, “merely skill.”

Natasha preened, “thank you.”

“Playing card games seems to be resulting in an unfortunate pattern,” Bruce noted idly, “I suggest we play something else.”

“Do we have other games?” Steve asked.

Tony snorted, “JARVIS is the most advanced AI currently in existence. It doesn’t matter whether or not we actually own a physical copy of the game.”

Steve frowned, “isn’t that copyright infringement?”

Pepper bit her lip to keep from smiling, “people have tried to sue for that before. But Tony has donated enough money to toy companies that we managed to convince a jury that we were right. It was either that or buy the companies, and I only just managed to keep Tony from doing that.”

Tony grinned smugly, “so. Any requests?”

“Twister,” Pepper said immediately.

This was met with blank looks from Thor and Steve, and a grimace from Clint. Natasha shrugged.

Steve poked his hand into the air adorably, “um, what’s Twister?”

“Seriously?” Tony asked, “You’ve never played Twister.”

Steve shook his head, but Bruce cut in, “unless someone played it with him recently, it’s illogical for him to have heard of it. Twister wasn’t invented until the late 1960’s; approximately twenty years after Steve went under.”

“And you know this how?” Clint asked. Bruce shrugged in response.

“Twister is a game with a spinner and colored circles. Someone holds the spinner and spins it. It’s divided into four sections: left hand, left foot, right hand, and right foot. Those sections are divided into the four colors: blue, green, yellow, and red. Whichever section and color it lands on, you have to put that body part on that color. You lose if your elbows or knees touch the floor, or if you fall over,” Pepper explained, for Steve and Thor’s benefit.

“Any objections?” Tony asked.

Clint looked like he was going to argue, but Pepper turned puppy-eyes on him. Never let it be said that Pepper Potts didn’t have one of the most pathetic puppy-dog faces ever, because she really did. So Clint didn’t say anything.

“JARVIS, pull up a virtual Twister board, would you?” Tony requested. He pulled out a StarkPad and pulled up a spinner on it.

“Gimme,” Clint said, reaching for the StarkPad.

Tony handed it to him, then knelt down on the floor as a holograph of a Twister board appeared, fully colored.

It was tight, considering there were six of them on one Twister “mat”. Thor fell first, clearly not accustomed to the flexibility needed for this game. He took Tony and Steve with him, and Pepper, Natasha, and Bruce had to shift slightly to avoid collapsing as well.

“Having fun?” Clint asked as he spun again.

“Yep,” Pepper said happily.

As the new combination was called, the three of them shifted into the new position. It turned out, Bruce was extremely flexible, just as much so as Natasha. Pepper was more staying out of their way than anything else.

Pepper was the next one to fall, not unexpectedly. She collapsed, and had the shimmy out from underneath Bruce and Natasha. She knocked into Natasha’s elbow, but the assassin managed to shift so as not to fall over.

“Geez, how are you doing that?” Tony said, staring at Natasha and Bruce.

“Ballet,” Natasha said.

At the same time, Bruce said, “yoga.”

They glanced at each other, grinning for a moment, and then Clint called out another combination.

The game went back and forth a few times, and several times it looked like one of them was going to fall. “If one of you doesn’t lose soon, I’m going to push you over,” Tony grumbled.

As it turned out, he didn’t need too. Loki had taken an interest in the cluster of Avengers, and wound herself around and under Natasha and Bruce, tripping them up sufficiently that they both fell to the floor.

Loki meowed, startled. Evidently, she hadn’t expected to be nearly crushed by two superheroes.

“Sorry, Loki,” Natasha laughed, getting up. She offered Bruce and hand and pulled him up too.

“I like this game a lot better,” Pepper said, “more fun, right?”

“Who won?” Steve asked.

“Nobody won,” Natasha said, “so it doesn’t really matter.”

“Natasha almost won,” Clint said.

“I think Bruce would have beaten her,” Steve said.

“Let’s not play games anymore,” Tony said, pouting, “I hate losing.” He crossed his arms.

“And what do you suggest?” Steve asked.

Tony shrugged, “let’s watch a movie.”

“We do that too much,” Pepper argued, but she settled onto the couch anyway.

Natasha and Clint settled in together, with Bruce on Natasha’s other side. As the movie started, Bruce leaned over and asked softly, “hey. How come you keep winning? No one has luck that good, unless you’re Domino.”

Natasha grinned, then leaned over and whispered into Bruce’s ear, “trade secret. I’ll never tell.”

Bruce gave her a look, which she returned, then rested her head on his shoulder, “you’ll pick up on it one day, doc.”

“Quite,” Clint muttered, “I’m trying to watch the movie.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry if this wasn't as good. I was sick while I was writing it.


	8. Mistoe Kisses and Holiday Spirit

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Holidays are a time for family. And apparently, that includes Loki.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Merry Christmas (or whatever holiday you celebrate)! For those of you who like these one-shots, here's a Christmas present for you.

“You did what?” Clint almost snarled, looking furious. Only Natasha’s hand around his bicep kept him from lunging at Thor. Her nails dug into his arm to keep him from moving.

“I did not realize it would have such a negative reaction,” the demigod said, frowning slightly.

Tony raised an eyebrow, “you invited your brother, not only down to earth, but to my house? And you thought we would just be cool with it?”

“Our house,” Pepper corrected absently.

They had been eating dinner when the discussion began. Pepper had asked if anyone was coming around for Christmas, and Thor had said that Jane and Darcy had asked to come up for the holidays, and that he had asked his father if Loki could come down. Needless to say, Clint had not reacted well.

“I assure you my brother would be on his best behavior,” Thor said.

“Your brother’s best behavior is still pretty…not socially acceptable,” Tony pointed out.

“Tony, I’m not exactly going to disagree with you, but as long as his powers are gone-“ Pepper began.

“No,” Tony cut in, “no, no, no! I don’t care if he’s as harmless as a puppy, I don’t want him here.”

“None of us are thrilled about this idea,” Bruce said idly, “but he is Thor’s brother. Provided he can’t hurt us, I don’t see the problem in letting him come over for the holidays.”

“And if he causes trouble, Bruce can beat him up again,” Pepper offered.

Which is how Loki came to be invited to the Avengers mansion for Christmas.

By Christmas day, the mansion was very festive. The various levels of holiday spirit were obvious. Steve and Pepper were very enthusiastic, with Tony as a close third. Thor was extraordinarily curious about the mortal holiday, while Clint and Natasha weren’t particularly interested. Bruce didn’t seem very enthused, but went along with everything.

Tony had been in charge of getting the tree, so naturally, the theme was apparently red and gold. They had been gathered in the living room, relaxing and waiting for company to show up. When the doorbell rang, Pepper was springing from her seat to answer it.

“Calm, Pepper,” Tony called after her, “they won’t run away if you don’t answer the door in the next five seconds.”

“Shut up,” she called back, and there’s the sound of a door being opened down the hall.

In about three seconds, they have a very excited looking Darcy running through the house and tackling Thor in a hug on the living room carpet.

Pepper and Jane followed Darcy into the living room just in time to see everyone cracking up, and Thor helping Darcy up.

“Thanks so much for letting us come for Christmas,” Jane said with a smile, before hugging Thor with more control, but no less enthusiasm, than her intern.

“Not a problem,” Tony said graciously, “the more the merrier, right?”

“Yes, well, if we’re all done with greetings then?” a voice drawled from the corner of the room. Loki was leaning against the wall, looking bored.

“How long have you been standing there?” Natasha asked, one hand firmly on Clint’s chest to keep him from getting up from where he was laying on the couch.

“Just a few minutes,” Loki seemed remarkably disinterested in the conversation, which was to be expected.

Darcy made a face, “who invited him?”

“That would be Thor,” Tony answered, tone displaying that he agreed with Darcy one hundred percent.

“Tony, it’s Christmas,” Pepper scolded, “try not to be so rude.”

“I’m the one being rude?” Tony asked, a look of mock hurt crossing his face.

From the couch, where Natasha had Clint’s head on her lap and Bruce had Clint’s feet on his, there came a series of snickers and scoffs.

Jane smiled slightly, “Pepper’s right. As much as we’d all like to kill Loki, I’d say he’s off limits today.” Then she changed the subject, “I love your decorations.”

“Tony did most of them,” Steve offered, “which is why there’s an abundance of mistletoe in the house.”

“Despite being told repeatedly that it was poisonous,” Bruce muttered under his breath, earning a nudge from Pepper.

Jane glanced up, nodding in agreement, “yeah, I noticed.”

“Well, I was about to get started on dinner,” Pepper said, “anyone going to help me?”

Almost immediately, Bruce and Steve volunteered. They followed the redhead to the kitchen, with Steve glancing over his shoulder point at Tony and say, “behave.”

“Why does everyone assume I’m the one who’s going to misbehave?” Tony whined, slumping down on the couch where Bruce had just vacated his spot.

“Probably because you’re the one who gets into the most trouble,” Natasha said evenly, without missing a beat.

Jane snickered slightly, moving to sit next to Thor. He wrapped his arm around her shoulder, clearly happy.

“I don’t know,” Darcy said, “as far as I’m concerned, you’re awesome.”

“Hell yeah, I’m awesome,” Tony muttered.

From his spot in the corner, Loki scoffed. Thor frowned at him warningly, but Loki just rolled his eyes.

That was the moment that the other Loki, the female one, chose to make her presence known, meowing and rubbing up against Jane’s leg.

“Who’s this?” Jane cooed at the cat, smiling and leaning down to pet her, “you’re adorable!”

“That’s Loki,” Natasha told her, “our cat. Steve named her.”

“You named a girl cat after a male demigod?” Darcy asked, raising an eyebrow and glancing at said demigod.

“Yep,” Clint responded.

Loki purred, moving away from Jane to wind around the trickster god’s legs. Loki looked horrified, “get this thing away from me!”

“She likes you,” Thor laughed slightly.

“I do not like her,” Loki frowned, nudging the cat away with his foot. She paid him no mind, moving back to the exact same position the moment he pulled his foot away.

As the conversation moved forward, kitty-Loki kept insistently pawing at demigod-Loki, and he kept pushing her away. Every now and again Tony would snicker at them.

“It’s not funny!” Loki finally burst out, interrupting the discussion Natasha and Jane had been having about the practicality of wearing heels in their various jobs.

“It totally is,” Darcy was laughing too, “I can see why they named her after you now.”

“She just wants attention,” Clint murmured, clicking his tongue so Loki turned and meandered away from the demigod, walking up to the couch and jumping into Clint’s lap. He stroked the cat’s fur gently, “see?”

Loki seemed relieved, “animals are a nuisance.”

Tony coughed, “horses.”

“We don’t bring that up,” Thor muttered, looking embarrassed.

“What?” Darcy asked, looking between Thor, Tony, and Loki in confusion, “I don’t get it.” Jane leaned over and whispered something into Darcy’s ear, and the intern’s eyes went wide, “you fu-“ Jane’s hand flew up to cover Darcy’s mouth, so the rest of the sentence was too muffled to understand, although everyone knew exactly what she had been going to say.

They were saved from a retort from Loki by Pepper returning to the living room, “dinner’s ready.”

There was a bit of a shuffle to get to the dining room, everyone entering single file, despite Tony’s disappointed look.

But then Loki and Darcy were at the back of the pack, and Darcy tried to push past Loki into the dining room. Tony grinned happily, pointing to the mistletoe hanging from the doorframe.

“Really, Tony?” Pepper sighed.

Loki frowned, “I do not understand the significance of part of a plant.”

“Here’s the significance,” Darcy was grinning evilly, “pucker up, god boy.” And with that, she landed a kiss on a very surprised and slightly horrified Loki.

When they broke apart, Loki had bright red lipstick smeared against his face, and the entire room was in an uproar. Everyone was laughing, with the exception of Loki. Darcy winked at him, then flounced over to the table and took a seat, patting the empty chair next to her with a grin.

Tony looked almost like he was choking with laughter, “that was the best thing ever!” He leaned across Steve, who was sitting next to him, to high-five Darcy, “you just moved up about five spaces on my favorite people list!”

Darcy preened, accepting the high-five. Loki hesitantly moved to sit down, most likely only choosing the seat next to Darcy because it was the only one open.

Pepper, Steve, and Bruce had already set the table and brought out the food, and Clint was already trying to steal some of the ham off the plate. Natasha smacked his hand, “not yet.”

Pepper nudged Tony from her seat next to him, “go on then, before Clint has a heart attack.”

Tony obliged, carving the ham and giving everyone the signal that it was okay to eat. Even after his plate was cleared, Clint kept stealing pieces of ham off of Natasha and Bruce’s plates. He probably would have taken from other people as well, but he couldn’t reach that far.

“That was very good,” Jane complimented Pepper when the meal was over.

“Thank you,” Pepper smiled, “but Bruce and Steve did most of the work.”

“Not true,” Steve protested, but he was smiling as well.

Loki huffed, arms crossed, leaning away from Darcy, who was still pretty much flirting with him, “am I allowed to leave now?”

Thor frowned, “no one was making you stay. I just thought to invite you, as this is a holiday you celebrate with your family.”

“Oh thank goodness,” Loki sighed dramatically, and he was gone with a slight pop.

“Spoilsport,” Darcy said, pouting.

“He’s right, though,” Jane said, sounding regretful, “we do have to leave soon.”

“Do we have to?” Darcy whined, “I don’t wanna go.”

Tony patted her shoulder, leaning around Steve again, “sorry. I know we’re awesome, but unfortunately that’s life.”

Darcy pouted all the way up until Jane literally pushed her out the door, calling over her shoulder, “thanks so much for having us!”

“Not a problem,” Pepper called back to them, “drive safely!” Then she shut the door and turned to the Avengers, “I guess that’s it. Christmas is over.”

Steve shook his head, “not yet.” He gestured for everyone to follow him to the living room. “Sit,” he told them, “I’ll be right back.” He disappeared out the door.

They did as instructed, Pepper, Natasha, and Bruce sitting on the couch, with Tony and Clint on the loveseat and Thor in one of the armchairs, waiting patiently for Steve to return.

When the super soldier returned, he was carrying a small stack of square objects wrapped in colorful Christmas paper. He passed them around the room without a word.

Pepper stared at the box in her lap, and then glanced up at Steve, “you didn’t have to do that, Steve.”

“I know,” he responded, “but it’s my first Christmas with a family in a very long time, and I wanted too. Go on, open them.”

Tony shrugged, “why not? I love presents.”

One by one, the Avengers and Pepper unwrapped the presents. Each one was a framed picture that Steve had drawn. Pepper’s was one of her, Tony, and Bruce cuddling on the couch while they watched a movie. Natasha’s was one of her patching Clint’s arm up after a training session. Thor had one of him and Pepper working in her garden. Clint’s was him hanging upside down from the banister on the stairs, grinning as he kissed Natasha from the position. Bruce’s was of him playing chess with Tony. And last but not least, Tony had one of him, Thor, and Clint laughing with their feet on the kitchen table, drinking beer.

“That’s so sweet,” Natasha murmured, looking up at Steve, “when did you draw these?”

Steve shrugged, “I like to draw. I’ve been working on them for a little while, and I thought you guys might like to have them.”

“I think we should hang these up,” Pepper said.

“Definitely,” Tony agreed, “I mean, look at this!”

Steve blushed slightly, “it’s nothing, really.”

“Of course it’s not nothing,” Pepper said, standing up and kissing him, “merry Christmas, Steve.”

“Merry Christmas,” Steve mumbled back.


	9. Girl's Day Out

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Pepper and Natasha spend a day without the guys, and day that's just for them.

It’s not always easy living in a house full of boys, even boys that you love and would hate to live without. So it’s always nice when Natasha and Pepper take a day just for themselves. And they have it set up so that at least once a month they get out and do something without any of the boys. They all know about it, and they also know enough not to try to stop them (not that they would have any reason to).  


Despite most people’s beliefs that Natasha doesn’t like girly things, she does enjoy many of the activities that Pepper does that don’t exactly scream ‘cold-blooded assassin’, which is why the first item on the agenda is shopping. Given the fact that Tony made sure all of the Avengers got credit cards wired to his account and the fact that they’re also being paid by SHIELD, money is never really an issue for them. They never go all out on a shopping trip, but they do indulge.  


Pepper really likes shopping with Natasha, because the red-haired Avenger prefers to wear darker, less conspicuous colors to blend in with the crowd. Pepper is slowly but surely breaking her of this habit by pointing out colorful shirts, skirts, or dresses that she thinks might be Natasha’s style. Today that means a bright, turquoise blouse with just a little bit of ruffle to it. It takes Pepper half an hour of casual hinting for Natasha to get it.  


Natasha does have an eye for fashion, so once Pepper convinces her to get the top, she carefully checks the options before selecting a white, low-cut blouse with black trim for the blonde to try on. Pepper ends up getting it.  


Afterwards, it’s on to something a little more Natasha’s style than Pepper’s: a martial arts seminar. Pepper knows some of the moves, but mostly she needs Natasha’s help with them as much as the instructors.  


“You’re supposed to hit the bag, not the ground,” Natasha laughs slightly as she helps Pepper up for the tenth time.  


“You make it look so easy,” Pepper complained, but she’s grinning.  


Natasha smiled back, arms wrapping around Pepper from the back as she guides her into a better stance, “I’ve had years of practice.”  


The touch is light, playful, designed both to show affection and to attempt to get a reaction from the other people in the room. Everyone in the room knows who the two ladies are, Pepper especially, and while the rumors of just what the relationship status is varies, most people still lean towards the fact that Pepper is with Tony. The girls find it amusing when displays of affection are met with surprise (although any form of disgust they hate, because they really do care about each other, so it shouldn’t matter that they’re both female), and love trying to get those reactions from other people.  


They’re both sweaty after the seminar, Pepper more so than Natasha, so they return home for quick showers, and then they’re off again. The next stop of the day is a spa. It’s girly and cliché, but they don’t particularly care because what’s there to not like about getting back massages, relaxing in mud, and getting their nails painted? Tony has bugged their phones and taken pictures of them covered in mud and spread them around on the internet before. Natasha had retaliated by convincing Bruce to post the photos he has of Tony wearing Iron Man boxers and singing into some scientific instrument in the lab, and Pepper packed his schedule so full he barely had time to sleep for a week. He has never done it since.  


Pepper almost dozes off during the back massage, but Natasha stays wide awake and alert. She still doesn’t fully trust that none of the people around her are going to hurt her, and she doesn’t much like having people touching her back without her seeing them. She participates, but only because Pepper encourages her to relax more and she wants to try. As long as Pepper is there with her, she doesn’t feel as nervous, because she knows if someone tries to hurt her or do something she doesn’t like, Pepper will make sure that person regrets it. And Pepper’s form of payback hurts a lot more than the Avenger’s form.  


After the massage they decide to skip the mud and instead go straight to getting their nails painted. It’s not surprising that Natasha choses a bright, vivid red that matches her hair. Pepper picks a more subtle pink, something that won’t stand out too much in the office. She can’t always be distracting the interns with her awesomeness, after all.  


Afterwards, they go out for dinner. It’s Natasha’s turn to choose, and as it turns out, the spy has a taste for Mexican food. The good kind, that’s full of spices that make you want to tear your tongue off to stop the burning, but Natasha doesn’t seem to mind. They get to the restaurant and order without saying too much to each other, and that’s okay because they’re not bothered by the silence.  


After ordering, however, Pepper asks in a conversational tone, “your last mission was in South America, right?” Her tone is light, but she’s watching Natasha carefully, waiting for the telltale signs that the other woman wants her to change the subject, because she won’t say anything even if Pepper makes her uncomfortable (it’s happened before, but Pepper has long since learned the signs).  


Natasha doesn’t bat an eyelash, “yeah. Nothing too major, just gathering some intel.”  


Pepper shakes her head, “you know I’m not supposed to know about SHIELD business, Nat. I would hate for them to have to kill me because I know too much.” But her tone is playful, because they both know SHIELD can’t touch her.  


“If they value me and Clint, they won’t touch you, too much information or not,” Natasha says, “we would do a lot more than just complain, I’ll tell you that.” She has a small smile on her face, looking about as relaxed as she ever does in public.  


“Well, it’s nice to know that I have someone looking out for me,” Pepper says, and she’s smiling too.  


Natasha snorts slightly, “Please, we’d all be pissed if SHIELD got you. We’d have to find someone to resurrect Fury enough times for each of us to get a chance to kill him. And afterwards, you know Tony would have a huge ceremony, and everyone would cry, and Steve would probably resort to taking over the kitchen and do nothing but bake for days, and Bruce would lock himself in the lab and blame himself, and Tony would get drunk and not get sober again for a week.” Her words are a little harsh, but stated in a calm way, and even if they hurt a bit, Pepper knows she’s right.  


“Well, I’m glad you guys care,” she said softly, “I may not have superpowers, but I’d do the same for any of you.”  


Natasha leans forward and grasps her hand loosely, “we know.”  


The topic is steered back into less serious territory, and the atmosphere lightens considerably. They share chocolate cake for desert.  


The mansion is quite by the time they get back. Knowing the others, it’s unlikely that anyone is actually asleep yet, but by this time they’ve all settled into their evening activities. Avengers or not, the neighbors get upset when they make too much noise after a certain time.  


There’s a note left on the kitchen counter from Tony letting the girls know that they can use the movie room without being interrupted, so they head down that way.  


Cuddled up on the couch with Brave playing (no one is allowed to comment on how Merida is totally Clint and Natasha’s lovechild), Natasha finally relaxes as Pepper wraps her arms around the redhead. The blonde woman can feel the tension leaving Natasha’s body as the assassin gets closer to sleep.  


“Goodnight,” she whispered into the thicket of hair that covers Natasha’s face. There’s a half-hearted reply that makes Pepper smile. It had taken Natasha a while to be fully comfortable around them, but now she knows she can fall asleep any time she wants without having to watch her back, and Pepper loves that Natasha trusts them. She loves that Natasha feels safe with her. And, just as much as she loves her boys, she loves Natasha.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Really sorry for how bad this chapter is and how long it took for me to get it posted. I promise the next one will be better.


	10. Gardening Fun

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Pepper and Thor work in the garden. It's really hot out.

It was hot out. And because it was New York, the crowded city filled with cars and other things that generate even more heat, it felt substantially hotter than it actually was. The weather made the long clothes Thor typically wore impractical, which is why he was just wearing a pair of shorts, sweat soaking his hair and dripping down his bare chest.

            Pepper was similarly dressed. She was in a tank top and shorts that barely made it halfway down her thigh, both of which were nearly drenched in sweat. Thor was smitten with Jane, and Pepper was very happy with her boys and Natasha, but that didn’t mean she couldn’t enjoy the sight of Thor shirtless.

            Thor looked up at her, wiping his forehead with the back of his hand and grinning, “I believe we’re almost done with this row. When we finish, we may take a break if you wish.”

            Pepper shook her head, “after this, we still have to water the plants. I can hold out until then.” She loved working in the garden with Thor. They didn’t spend all that much time together, so this was a chance for her to get to know the Asgardian better.

            Thor nodded and bent back over the carrots. Together, they finished the row fairly quickly. Pepper felt like she was drowning, the heat making it both sticky and unpleasant. When Thor stood up to get the hose, she stood too, shaking out the kinks in her joints from kneeling down for so long.

            Her back was to Thor, so Pepper didn’t notice the mischievous look on his face that might have seemed more at home on Tony’s (or Loki’s). When a sharp cold hit her back, she let out a shriek, whipping around, “ _Thor_!”

The demigod grinned at her, “you looked as if you could use some cooling off. I thought I would oblige.”

Pepper marched over, trying to take the hose from her, but Thor was taller than her, and he held the hose out of reach, grinning as the still-running water soaked through both of their outfits. When she couldn’t get the end he was holding, Pepper grabbed the hose lower down and tugged. The hose slipped from Thor’s grasp and Pepper caught it, grinning triumphantly and darting away from him, holding the hose in front of her like a weapon.

“I’m not scared of you,” Thor laughed, striding forward against the torrent.

“I didn’t think you were,” Pepper teased. When he got close enough, she aimed the hose towards his hair, which was looking less like a shampoo commercial and more like something out of a surfer movie.

He grabbed it back from her, shaking his head, water droplets flying everywhere. Pepper dodged the spray, moving around behind Thor. The demigod turned, hose still in hand, and rather than hit Pepper, the cold water flew into Steve’s face. The super soldier had just come out of the house into the backyard. He had a glass in each hand, and was blinking, spluttering as he spat out water.

Pepper covered her mouth, “Steve, I’m so sorry! I didn’t realize you were there!”

Steve looked back and forth between Pepper and Thor, who looked sheepish, and grinned. He deposited the glasses behind one of the garden beds, where it would hopefully not get tripped over, and stripped off his shirt, tossing it off to the side. He gave Thor a look over Pepper’s shoulder that she didn’t quite understand.

The confusion ended when Steve lunged for her, wrapping his arms around her waist and turning her into the abrupt blast of water that Thor aimed at her. She squirmed against his hold, laughing, getting Steve thoroughly drenched in the process.

“No fair!” Pepper yelped.

“Why’s everyone screaming?” Tony asked, emerging from the house followed by the rest of the Avengers.

“Tony, help!” Pepper called to him, “they’re ganging up on me!”

Tony laughed, “Well that’s not fair. Don’t worry, I’ll save you!” He didn’t bother taking off his shirt like Steve had before charging in to wrestle Steve away from Pepper. Steve gained the upper hand by shoving Tony in front of him into the water.

Meanwhile, Clint and Natasha had snuck around behind Thor and together managed to get the hose from him, soaking everyone even further. Bruce stayed out of the way, purposefully avoiding the spray, but smiling none the less at the sight of the others playing in the water.

The game only ended when the ground under their feet began to turn to mud. “Guys, truce!” Steve called from by the faucet, twisting it to turn off the hose. Clint and Natasha looked up from where they had been wrestling in the mud. Pepper released Tony, who she’d been using as a shield, and Thor (who had the hose again) set it down on the ground.

Pepper looked regretfully at the mud puddle under their feet, “we still have to finish watering the plants.”

Tony snorted, “Yeah, you got pretty sidetracked.”

“I believe we should worry about the garden later,” Thor put in, looking around, “we might as well take a break this evening anyway.”

Pepper considered his words, and then glanced at the others, most of who were covered in mud, “let’s hose off first, though. I’d hate to have to clean up a bunch of messy floors.”

The other Avengers nodded their assent and everyone began to clean themselves off. Clint went to flinch away when Natasha got the hose, but she just shot him a look and he relaxed. Pepper was the last one to take the hose and clean herself off, but there wasn’t the much that could be done for her feet. Even if she got them completely clean, they’d just get muddy again when she walked to the door.

Pepper turned off the hose and hung it back up. Already the heat of the day was starting to dry up the large patch of mud in the middle of the garden. As she turned back towards the mansion, she noticed that almost everyone had already headed inside. The only one still waiting by the door was Bruce.

Pepper looked curiously at the scientist, and Bruce smiled bashfully at her, “you said you didn’t want to clean up the floors. I thought I could assist with one less set of footprints.”

It took a second, but Pepper understood what he was saying. Grinning at him, she wrapped one arm around his shoulders, soaking through the thin fabric of his shirt. Bruce ducked down a bit and slid one arm around Pepper’s back and the other under her knees before standing upright and carrying her bridal style into the house.

When Pepper glanced at the floor, she couldn’t help but smile a little at the five sets of muddy footprints that had been left behind.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow, so sorry it took me so long to get this posted. I have two more ideas kicking around, and after that it might be much longer before I get anything posted, so ideas are always welcome. Let me know if there's something you'd love to see here and I'll do my best to write it!


	11. Pillow Forts are for All Ages

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Clint builds a pillow fort in the living room.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys, sorry it's been so long since I've posted anything. Here's another one-shot to make up for that. Please read the notes at the end, it's kind of important.

It was amazing how normal even the weirdest things that took place in Avenger’s Mansion could be brushed off. It didn’t even register to Steve as odd that one morning he couldn’t get through the living room on his way to the kitchen because most of the room was taken up by an enormous pile of pillows. He looked at it for a few seconds, and then turned around and left the room in search of coffee.

Clint watched him go, his body almost entirely obscured by the pile. It had taken him most of the morning the collect every pillow he could find in the house and bring them all back to the living room. He’d thought it would have been harder, but nearly everyone in the house slept odd hours, when they slept at all. Bruce and Tony had been in the lab most of the night and had probably passed out there, Pepper had been on an important conference call in the study, Natasha and Steve had been sparring together in the gym, and Thor had been out in the gardens, presumably watching the sun rise. All of their rooms had been empty, and with JARVIS’s help, Clint had located every pillow in the house. He was ready to get to work.

***

Nearly all of the Avengers were in the kitchen when Natasha came in, a frown creasing her forehead, “has anyone seen Clint?”

Bruce, who was perching on the counter, looked up from the tablet balanced on his lap. He pursed his lips, thinking for a moment before he responded, “I haven’t seen him since two days ago.”

Pepper nudged him playfully, “that’s because you spend all of your time in the lab with Tony.”

Bruce gave her a sheepish smile, “we’re working on spending less time in there, I promise.” From across the room, Tony made a noise that might have been agreement, but could just as easily have been a snort.

Steve shrugged when Natasha glanced at him, “I think I might have seen him. Unless it was one of you who piled all those pillows in the living room.”

In answer there was a chorus of no’s from Tony and Bruce, Thor shook his head, and Pepper gave Steve an incredulous look.

“A pile of pillows?” Tony raised his eyebrows, “and I was just starting to think that Clint didn’t have the maturity of a five year old.” Natasha gave Tony a sharp look, but even the assassin couldn’t help her lips quirking up into a tiny smirk.

Tony ignored Natasha’s glare, a brave move, and said, “I have to see this. In the living room, right?” He disappeared through the door without waiting for an answer. Bruce glanced at Pepper, then at Natasha and Steve, and finally slid off the counter and followed Tony out of the room, Pepper on his heels. Natasha, Steve, and Thor filed after them.

Tony had halted in the entryway to the living room, where they were greeted, not by the pile of pillows that Steve had seen earlier, but an incredibly well-crafted pillow fort.

“Really Clint,” Tony mocked, “A pillow fort? How old are you?”

Through a tiny gap in the wall of pillow, a small object came flying out, hitting Tony square in the chest and suctioning to the arc reactor. Tony glanced down, eyes wide with surprise, and pulled the foam arrow off his chest, “A nerf arrow. You’re not making a very good case for yourself.”

Bruce couldn’t help the tiny snicker he let out, and he was rewarded with an arrow to the forehead. He startled, ducking behind Pepper with a little yelp. Just as Steve stepped forward, the wave of nerf arrows was turned on him and Thor.

“Clint, stop it!” Tony said indignantly, “this is childish and immature!” His words were punctuated by another couple of arrows hitting him.

“Clint, stop shooting,” Natasha said calmly. She was the only one who hadn’t gotten hit with an arrow yet. At her words, the arrows stopped flying. “Why did you build the fort, Clint?” Natasha asked.

“I felt like it,” came the reply. The shrug was almost audible in Clint’s voice, which was muffled through the layers of pillows.

Natasha rolled her eyes, but her smile was fond, “and why are you shooting everyone?”

Clint sounded chastised when he said, “not everyone.”

“Clint,” Natasha’s tone was stern.

Clint huffed, “I’m not taking it down.” There was a long pause, and then he said, “Do you want to come in?”

Natasha glanced back at the others. Bruce was still half-hiding behind Pepper, Steve had his arms crossed as he watched the two agents go back and forth, and Tony and Thor both looked a combination of amused and exasperated with Clint’s actions. Finally, she replied, “Only if that’s an open invitation.”

The only response was a pillow popping out of the base of the fort. The whole structure had been built strongly enough that it didn’t appear to even jostle the other pillows around it. Natasha promptly got on her hands and knees. She looked back at the others again, gave a small smile, and easily slipped through the gap.

Pepper turned her head to look at Bruce, the silent question never leaving her lips before Bruce nodded, and Pepper followed after Natasha. Bruce had a bit more difficulty getting into the fort since he had a bit more bulk than either of the two girls, but he managed it without disturbing the wall of pillows.

Thor didn’t even hesitate, although his frame was much larger than any of the others, squeezing his considerable mass into an opening that looked a bit too small for him. Tony stayed a minute longer, bouncing on the balls of his feet and watching Steve. The super-soldier raised his eyebrows with a smirk. He gestured to the pillow fort, “after you.”

Tony smirked right back before getting to his knees and crawling into the fort. Steve hesitated, considering the size of the fort and the size of the seven people that were going to be crammed into it, and then shrugged, crawling in behind Tony.

Inside, Steve’s suspicions about how crowded the pillow fort would be was confirmed. Bruce had dragged Pepper into his lap, Clint was sitting cross-legged against the far wall with Thor next to him on one side and Tony on the other, and Natasha was sitting on Tony’s lap, her back up against Pepper and Bruce and her legs draped across Clint and Thor. Even with everyone so close together, there wasn’t much room left for Steve. Still, he pressed in on the other side of Bruce and Pepper, the space so small that his shoulder’s brushed up against both Bruce’s and Thor’s.

"It’s cozy,” Pepper commented, leaning back into Bruce’s arms, “where’d you get all the pillows? I didn’t think we had anywhere near this many in the house.”

Clint shrugged, “you’d be surprised.” JARVIS helped me find all of them. A lot were in closets and guest rooms.”

“It’s pretty impressive,” Tony admitted. He rapped his knuckles against the wall of pillows, “surprisingly sturdy. Have you ever considered a career in engineering?”

Natasha, whose head was tipped back against Pepper’s shoulder and whose eyes were closed, smirked, “Clint doesn’t have the attention span to be an engineer.”

“Hey!” Clint protested, “I spent at least an hour working on this!”

“You let pizza burn in the microwave because you got distracted by a cat video,” Natasha responded.

Clint opened his mouth to argue, considered Natasha’s point, and closed it again with a shrug.

Behind Steve, he felt a smaller form head-butt him. He twisted around to see Loki, tail fluffed up, trying to squeeze her way in with them. He shifted to the side just enough for the cat to step over him, winding her way through the tangle of legs, rubbing her cheek against Natasha’s thigh before climbing Clint’s shirt to sit on his shoulders. She head-butted his ear and Clint rubbed her chin.

Loki accepted the petting for a moment, and then she walked daintily across Clint’s shoulders to Bruce’s, stepping on Natasha’s head as she went. The assassin spluttered at the mouthful of fur, making a face. Pepper laughed, bending forward as the cat balanced on her shoulders with her hind legs on Bruce’s chest. Loki batted at Pepper’s hair for a moment, and Tony, who had whipped out his phone, snapped a picture.

The flash caught Loki’s attention and she sprang towards it to investigate, the motion knocking Pepper forward into Steve’s arms. Tony tumbled backwards as he got an armful of black cat, and his shoulders knocked into the wall of the pillow fort. As well built as it was, the fort couldn’t hold up under the weight of a fully grown man, and the few pillows that Tony knocked out of place were enough to send the whole fort crashing down on them. Pepper let out a shriek, her hands flying up to protect against the pillows, but within seconds all of them were buried.

Thor was the first to stand up. He reached down to grasp Steve’s forearm and pulled him to his feet. Steve had one arm around Pepper’s waist, so she was dragged up with him. Clint popped his head out from under a pillow, digging around to uncover Natasha before standing up himself. Natasha helped Bruce up, smirking slightly at how the avalanche of pillows had knocked his curls askew.

“Everyone okay?” Pepper asked, separating herself from Steve and brushing off her shirt.

Steve glanced down into the waist-deep pile of pillows spread out across the floor, “where’s Tony?”

Pepper got to her knees, most of her body submerged in the pillows, and began digging until she saw the arc reactor’s light. She uncovered the rest of Tony’s body, and the billionaire sat up, a purring Loki in his arms. When Clint began to snicker, Tony shot him a glare that was more embarrassed than harsh.

Clint raised his hands in surrender, “okay, okay. I’ll clean it up.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, I've been struggling with writer's block when it comes to these one-shots, and I'd really love it if anyone reading this gave me a suggestion or a prompt. Any scene you want to see that could be included in this series would work (and I'm considering adding in characters like Bucky or Sam Wilson, so let me know what you think about me trying to incorporate them somehow. I may have to do that more in the way of the comics than the MCU).  
> Basically, send me fluff prompts for new chapters of Domestic Avengers, and if you want the same series, but the prompt is darker or angsty, send it to me and I'll put it in Rough Days, the angst version of this series (they take place in the same universe, so don't worry).  
> Also, if anyone does fanart of this, let me know and I can put it in one of the chapters and give the artist credit. My tumblr is marveliciousfanace, so you can also send art or prompts there.  
> Thanks guys!

**Author's Note:**

> I know, short, but this is just an introduction for the one shots.


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